HD on a device this small is just about pointless at this point simply because of $$$. Give it 5 years or so.

As for the 400k units. That is plenty. No reason to have a huge stock pile of units sitting in inventory. People will buy the Pre or they will wait a week for it just like the Iphone when it was next to impossible to find one and people were waiting in lines for days on restock.

Everyone is so used to having things their way, right away. Life isn't like Burger King, wait it out and get one or don't. The next best device is 6 months to a year away and we can start all this BS all over again.

I have no doubt that they can - the problem is how much it would cost. But it would look AWESOME.

The Apple Cinema Display with the highest pixel density is 101.65 ppi. To fit a 720p display on a 3.5 inch screen would require a ppi of 419.6. Not to mention that most people would likely not even see the difference. The subject is debated as to exactly how big and how far away HDTV can be noticed, but it gets to the point that the human eye can't detect the better resolution anyway.

Secondly important to note, is that a 40 minute tv show in 720p h.264 encoding is about 1.3GB. They better increase the memory a whole lot if they expect to put hd tv shows and movies on the thing.

For HD playback you'd need a 720P, or better, capable screen i.e. one running at a minimum resolution of around 1152 x 720. I doubt they can produce a 3" screen with that kind of resolution

Originally Posted by Aridon

HD on a device this small is just about pointless at this point simply because of $$$. Give it 5 years or so.

As for the 400k units. That is plenty. No reason to have a huge stock pile of units sitting in inventory. People will buy the Pre or they will wait a week for it just like the Iphone when it was next to impossible to find one and people were waiting in lines for days on restock.

Everyone is so used to having things their way, right away. Life isn't like Burger King, wait it out and get one or don't. The next best device is 6 months to a year away and we can start all this BS all over again.

Originally Posted by Derek Kessler

I have no doubt that they can - the problem is how much it would cost. But it would look AWESOME.

HD Video would destroy battery for the iPhone. Could they do it, yeah? But at what expense to overall device usability or worse from Apple's perspective, form factor.

As for this rumor, I have said it before and I will say it again, I think it is crap that stock will be intentionally shorted. I don't see Palm messing with supplies intentionally, that would be insanely stupid for a company on the brink. Palm doesn't want people unable to buy. If people are unable to get a Pre and then they see a large supply of equivalent goods (G1s, Storms, and iPhone 3.0s) those people may simply go and get one of those instead of waiting for supply. Second, the price is fixed, it is not like smaller supply gets them more money.

They are making calculations on expected demand, can they be wrong? Yes. But the costs of over-estimating demand and having too large of a supply that you can't sell are greater than underestimating and doing a second production run. Ideally, they would like to get their supply estimates right on the money. Though even this doesn't guarantee all places will have sufficient supply or there won't be localized shortages simply due to distribution models, demand isn't the same everywhere. So even if 400,000 production numbers are accurate, that could simply be a reflection of what palm thinks the expected initial demand could be rather than actively manipulating the market which would be suicidal. (yes this is verbatim from another post of mine)

I think it is crap that stock will be intentionally shorted. I don't see Palm messing with supplies intentionally, that would be insanely stupid for a company on the brink. Palm doesn't want people unable to buy. If people are unable to get a Pre and then they see a large supply of equivalent goods (G1s, Storms, and iPhone 3.0s) those people may simply go and get one of those instead of waiting for supply.

If the supply is shortened, it would be for a relatively short time right during the launch. Anyone who cares enough about the pre to go get it on launch day, or even launch week, will not decide to go across the street and get an iphone because the sprint store is out of stock. Now maybe after the device has been out for months, the causal phone buyer who's contract just ran out might go across the street if the pre isn't in stock, but by then it likely won't be an issue.

Originally Posted by prereferee

Second, the price is fixed, it is not like smaller supply gets them more money.

But sold out stores and lines out front do get them more publicity. More publicity gets them more sales and more money. "If it's sold out, it must be cool" type thinking by the general public.

OK, it's only important to me, and even at that, not extremely important ...

Ah, you noticed him writing "waiting on line" too? But to be fair, it's not just people in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, etc. who use that wording -- the usage seems to extend into northern New Jersey and the southwestern corner of Connecticut as well. It would be interesting to see exactly how far outside NYC the "on line" usage zone extends before it gives way to the "in line" usage favored by the rest of the US.

For HD playback you'd need a 720P, or better, capable screen i.e. one running at a minimum resolution of around 1152 x 720. I doubt they can produce a 3" screen with that kind of resolution

Maybe "HD" just means some bumped up resolution(not 720p) and they're just getting everyone excited over the use of the term. I saw a rumor about a Zune HD too.

If HD devices(or even higher resolution) are coming, that's a good thing, but I wonder about the pricing too.

HP has officially ruined it's own platform and kicked webOS loyalists and early TouchPad adopters to the curb. You think after you drop it like a hot potato and mention it made no money and is costing you money, anyone else wants it??? Way to go HP!!

And some people are fools to keep believing their hype. HP has shown they will throw webOS under the bus and people are still having faith in them??? News flash: if it's own company won't stand behind it, it's finished!

Ah, you noticed him writing "waiting on line" too? But to be fair, it's not just people in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, etc. who use that wording -- the usage seems to extend into northern New Jersey and the southwestern corner of Connecticut as well. It would be interesting to see exactly how far outside NYC the "on line" usage zone extends before it gives way to the "in line" usage favored by the rest of the US.

I'm from Los Angeles and currently am going to school in Eugene, Oregon. If I heard anyone say that they were wsiting on line I would assume they meant on the Internet. I'd picture someone at their desk, not someone waiting in line.

"Never regret yesterday. Life is in you today, and you make your tomorrow." —L. Ron Hubbard

Ah, you noticed him writing "waiting on line" too? But to be fair, it's not just people in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, etc. who use that wording -- the usage seems to extend into northern New Jersey and the southwestern corner of Connecticut as well. It would be interesting to see exactly how far outside NYC the "on line" usage zone extends before it gives way to the "in line" usage favored by the rest of the US.

Yep, I live on (in) Long Island. However, I was not born or raised here.

Ah, you noticed him writing "waiting on line" too? But to be fair, it's not just people in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, etc. who use that wording -- the usage seems to extend into northern New Jersey and the southwestern corner of Connecticut as well. It would be interesting to see exactly how far outside NYC the "on line" usage zone extends before it gives way to the "in line" usage favored by the rest of the US.

Yep, that was my clue. Totall off-topic I know, but here's how I heard the story (I know it's weird, but I'm in to etimology).

When the immigrants came to Ellis Island, there were long lines painted on the floor to process them. They were told to stand "on line", and it stuck.